Fairgrounds, city reach agreement on sewage

Tanya Mannes, staff writer

As Del Mar Fairgrounds officials contemplate a major expansion, they have reached a milestone agreement with Del Mar over the amount of sewage that fairgrounds events can pump into the small city's pipes.

The state-owned fairgrounds and racetrack property is already the largest wastewater customer in Del Mar, which has 4,580 residents.

In April, the fairgrounds unveiled a plan for adding hotels, exhibit halls and other facilities. The city feared that more intense use of the 340-acre site would generate a tide of wastewater that could overwhelm the city's sewer pipes and pumps, resulting in spills. Another concern was that the amount might exceed the limits on Del Mar's contract with San Diego for sewage treatment.

During months of complex negotiations this year, fairgrounds officials acknowledged that the expansion would generate more sewage and promised to limit flows. The resulting agreement sets a daily average flow of 156,000 gallons and a maximum of 792,000 gallons from the fairgrounds.

City officials said the deal shows cooperation between Del Mar and the fairgrounds, which is governed by the 22nd District Agricultural Association board. The two sides are often at odds over land-use issues.

“I've been on the council for 10 years now, and certainly we have had our ups and downs, and differences of opinion,” Del Mar Mayor Crystal Crawford said. “Over the last several years, our relationship has improved.”

Rebecca Bartling, the fairgrounds' deputy general manager, said the fairgrounds tries to be a good neighbor.

“Legally we didn't have to do (the agreement), but we felt it was an important thing for our relationship with Del Mar,” Bartling said.

Environmental activists welcome the agreement – along with a project to replace an old sewage line used by the fairgrounds – saying that both measures will protect the San Dieguito Lagoon from spills.

“The main concern had been that the fairgrounds in their peak periods would overload those pipes and we would have a rupture into the riverbed, and the sewage would go into the beach and the lagoon,” said Dawn Rawls, chairwoman of the San Dieguito Lagoon Committee, a volunteer board that advises the City Council.

“The pipes needed to be replaced, and there needed to be limits on what the fairgrounds could put through those pipes,” Rawls said. “Those were the two main concerns.”

The agreement, approved last month by the City Council and the fairgrounds board, runs through Dec. 1, 2027, with an option to extend it by an additional 10 years.

The agreement will provide Del Mar the information it needs to finish plans for a sewer-system upgrade to replace the 21st Street Lift Station, which pumps Del Mar's sewage to San Diego's Point Loma treatment plant.

Officials didn't want to upgrade the pump station until they knew it would be big enough to handle the fairgrounds expansion.

Crawford described the 35-year-old pump station as “a critical piece of our wastewater infrastructure” in desperate need of an upgrade. Construction on the $5 million project could begin early next year, city public-works director David Scherer said.

The fairgrounds hosts hundreds of events a year including the county fair, which draws as many as 80,000 people on peak days; nationally recognized horse-racing events; and the popular Scream Zone attraction at Halloween.

On an average day, the fairgrounds generates about 16 percent of the sewage produced by Del Mar.

This week, the council approved an easement agreement with the fairgrounds to allow it to replace a sewer line that crosses below the San Dieguito River and feeds into Del Mar's pump station. In March, the fairgrounds board approved a $1 million project to replace the corroded, 35-year-old metal sewage pipe with polyethylene plastic, and the Coastal Commission signed off on the plans in November.

The new sewer pipeline will be buried about 14 feet below the river. Construction is expected to begin in January.

The fairgrounds master plan outlines $250 million to $300 million in commercial facilities that would be built over the next 15 years. A consultant is preparing an environmental impact report, which will be released next year for public review before the plan goes to the California Coastal Commission for approval.

Among the more controversial elements: a four-story, 330-room condominium-hotel; a 75-foot-tall health club; and a 49-foot-high electronic sign along Interstate 5. The landmark, 46-foot Don Diego clock tower would be demolished.